


i hear three voices through the trees

by okamiwind



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Bonding, M/M, Mating Rituals, Prophecy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:21:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24647881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okamiwind/pseuds/okamiwind
Summary: in the forest, they wait for the spirits to call.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Oh Sehun
Comments: 14
Kudos: 58





	i hear three voices through the trees

Sometimes, it’s nice to kneel. It gives you a different perspective on things. The day has truly only just begun, and he closes his eyes, listening to the sounds of the world waking around the three of them. He feels the sun shining through the clearing in the trees, warm on his skin. He hears the whistling birds, the trilling cicadas. He breathes in deeply, smells the summer flowers, the wet earth. 

He does not know how long they’ll be here, so he supposes he must make the best of it. 

Baekhyun huffs at his side, and Sehun can’t help the smile. Baekhyun has always been a bit… hot-headed. 

Sehun opens his eyes, looking around the forest, and he gets a hint of Baekhyun’s upset as a soft breeze gently rustles the trees around them. He must be angry, Sehun never gets much of his scent otherwise.

“This is stupid,” Baekhyun grouses. “What kind of ceremony is this?” 

“Isn’t it supposed to display our perseverance and dedication to each other?” Junmyeon asks. “Now, hush up. You’ve no idea if they’ll come by to check on us.” 

“So now we’ve got to stay silent too?” 

“I’m fairly sure you’re aware of the rules,” Sehun smiles. 

“One thing I’m _not_ sure about is whether or not you two are worth it,” Baekhyun says, and immediately, Junmyeon and Sehun whip their heads to the side to stare at him. He holds his hands up in deference. “Kidding, kidding.” 

“You’d better be, alpha,” Junmyeon warns. 

“Or what?” 

“Or we’ll punish you,” Junmyeon says, glaring hard. 

“Yes, omega,” Baekhyun says, and he faces front, falling down into a deep bow, forehead against the forest floor. 

Junmyeon rolls his eyes, bumping his shoulder against Sehun’s. 

They’ve known each other since they were young, the three of them, and Sehun always had a small crush on the two of them. He couldn’t help it. They were both so funny and kind, strong in their own ways. Baekhyun was determined, bold, and persistent. Junmyeon was calm, cool, and could roll with the punches. They complemented each other so well, made so much sense together. Sehun watched them, always watched them interact. They would play together in the afternoons before supper, and they always came to fetch Sehun together, the pair of them. 

It was no surprise, of course, when they presented in the natural opposites, alpha and omega. Sehun’s heart fell at their feasts, watching them celebrate. At just fifteen summers, he knew that they would be together. He drank himself full of sweet wine, and they shouldered the weight of him as they went back home for the evening. 

His fate felt sealed once their courting began. He watched with green eyes, not sure if he was more jealous of Junmyeon or Baekhyun. He barely even cared that he presented, barely even cared that he was named a beta. It felt like an obvious moment, the next sentence in a story already written long before he was born. He would always be an outsider, looking in on a love that he couldn’t take part in. 

But then, miraculously, they courted him too. He could barely believe his luck, getting both of them, the two that he had grown to admire and cherish with all his heart. They fell in love over the course of four summers, and only just recently, they admitted to the elders that theirs was a love that could not be cleanly cut. They could not fit into the mold that those before them had left. 

The elders met for seven days, trying to figure out what to do with them. 

When they heard that they would be allowed to participate in the bonding rituals, their hearts soared. Now, though… 

“I’m only saying, this is silly,” Baekhyun whispers, pushing up off the ground back into his kneeling position. 

“Quiet, the spirits of the forest will hear you,” Junmyeon warns. 

“The spirits, this. The spirits, that.” 

“ _Baekhyun_ ,” they say in unison. 

“Please judge us worthy and judge our love pure,” he says, rolling his eyes. “They’re dead, what do they know of love? You can’t love if you don’t have a functioning heart anymore.” 

Sehun spits out a laugh, and Junmyeon nudges him sharply. 

“Quiet,” Sehun tells Baekhyun. 

“You thought it was funny,” Baekhyun accuses. 

“It was, but this is no time for laughter,” Junmyeon says. “We’re meant to be solemn.” 

“I’ve never been adept at that,” Baekhyun says. “Archery, cooking, sailing, sure. But solemnity?” He wiggles his hand back and forth as if to say _Not so good._

“The quicker we quiet, the quicker it’ll end,” Sehun says. 

“Do you know that for certain?” Baekhyun asks. 

“No, but it sounds like it ought to be true,” Sehun shrugs. 

“Neither of you are helpful,” Baekhyun says. “What are we even waiting for? Some sign?” 

“Yes,” Junmyeon says. “A sign found in silence.” 

They kneel for the better part of the day, the sun falling around them. Sehun smiles as he listens to Baekhyun complain about his empty stomach, as he listens to Junmyeon chastise even when his own stomach growls, as he realizes that this life certainly is the life for him. These two… forever, always. 

It is dark by the time Sehun considers the fact that perhaps nothing will happen. He worries his lip as he thinks about what might transpire if they yield nothing. Would the elders tell them they weren’t allowed to bond? Would they be forced to abandon each other in favor of someone else? Sehun can’t imagine loving anyone besides Junmyeon and Baekhyun. Sehun would rather leave than be without them. 

Then, the spirits answer him the way a chorus might answer a verse. 

The violet wind sweeps through the clearing, the air sparkling and glittering around them. It curls and waves, circling each of them, and when Sehun breathes in, it feels like his lungs have been cleared of something, something he didn’t even realize was there. He breathes in again, deeply, richly, and he is filled with the most overwhelming and pervasive sense of calm. The air smells like lavender tea, like jasmine and rose. 

In his head, pictures flash before his eyes. 

_He is barefoot in the field of yellow wildflowers. The sunflowers at the edge of the field stretch up to the sun. He wears a crown of flowers, red and yellow and purple, and ribbons of gold are wrapped around his hands. Ribbon-wrapped hands take his own, and they stand in a circle under the full blue sky._

_It is the Autumn Bounty, and the tables are filled with fruits. Bowls of blood red berries and deep purple fruits. There is a cask, and Baekhyun cracks it. It spills out into Junmyeon’s hands, and the wine is red. So red._

_Winter winds whip past them as they journey through the snow to the cabin. They are hauling something behind them, and they push the door open as the storm thickens everything with white.The hearth roars with light, and set on their table… a stag. A stag with three points._

All he can see is purple. All he knows is love. 

“Oh,” Baekhyun says, and Sehun turns to see him staring at the swirling air, the violet wind of the spirits, dancing above them. 

The sky goes bright with light, purple and gold and red. 

If they were waiting for a sign that their bond was true, Sehun thinks they must have found it. 

They go back to the village together, happy tears in their eyes, and the elders wait for them around the great fire. 

“Well?” the woman asks, deep brown eyes like earth. “Did you speak to them?” 

Junmyeon turns to Sehun, and Sehun turns to Baekhyun. Baekhyun’s brows raise. 

“Yes,” Sehun says suddenly, his voice jumping out. “I spoke to them.” 

“What did they show you, beta?” she asks. “What portraits did they paint for you?” 

“I-I saw ribbons,” he says softly. “They were gold. It was summer. The sunflowers were in bloom, and they were taller than I was.” 

“What else?” 

“The Bounty,” Sehun says. 

“What was served at the feast?” she beseeches. “Quickly, now.” 

“B-Berries,” Sehun says. “Berries and wine.” 

She bites her smile, nodding before turning back to the rest of the elders. They nod along with her, and then… 

“Was there a final vision?” she asks, one brow raised quizzically. 

“A winter,” Sehun says. “A cold one. There was a blizzard, and the winds were glittering with snow.” 

“What did you eat?” she asks. “Tell me truly.” 

“I-It was a stag,” Sehun says. “Full grown, but—” 

“The points,” she says. “How many points?” 

“It was odd, my lady,” Sehun says. “T-There were only three.” 

She nods with a smile. “They have blessed you.” She turns to the pages. “The feast will be tonight. Tell the pack.” The pages run in seven directions, one for each of the elders. She turns back to them. “Congratulations. The pack welcomes your bond.”

He hears blood rushing in his ears as the elders leave them, the night pouring over them in a sheet of black and amber. He can barely hear his own thoughts, but when Junmyeon pulls the two of them into an embrace, he realizes he does not need to hear anything but this, anything but _them_ , forever and always.  
  


☾

**Author's Note:**

> this is garbo but i really love things like this ;~; i hope you enjoyed it despite it not being modern,,,, if given the option, i will always write ancient sorts of things lkajdkjag 
> 
> okay, thank you again, i hope you enjoyed!


End file.
